Jasper Wood's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Jasper Wood wanted to build a place where mortals and fae could share a fire without either court hunting them for it. Every site he scouted failed the same way. He knelt at the edge of a birch grove and pressed his palm to the ground. Cold seeped up his arm. That meant the Winter court's border ran under this soil. He swore and stood. The bright meadow south of here belonged to the summer fae. The river was Winter's. He had walked for three days and found no ground that belonged to no one. A voice cut across the grove. "You're doing it wrong." Jasper turned. A young woman climbed the slope toward him in muddy boots, a patched coat, a folded map clutched to her chest. He knew her by reputation. Nora Calloway was the only mortal in Fairy Ring who aged, and everyone said she knew every border in the wilds. She stopped a few feet away and looked him over like he was a lost sheep. "You test the dirt one spot at a time," she said. "You'll die of old age first. I won't, but I'm patient." She unfolded her map. Faded ink marked both courts in overlapping lines. Between them ran a thin gap she tapped with one finger. "Nobody claims that?" Jasper asked. "Nobody remembers it. There's an old inn there. Both courts forgot it exists. Forgotten is as good as free." She rolled the map shut. "I'll show you. But I'm coming inside when it's built." Jasper grinned. "Deal." She led him for an hour, then stopped and pointed. The inn sagged in a clearing, its timbers gray, its windows broken. Moss crawled up the porch. No summer warmth touched it. No winter cold either. Jasper pressed his palm to the doorframe and felt nothing at all. Neutral ground. His chest went tight with hope. "This is it," he said. "This is the haven." Then something moved in the doorway. A black wolf stepped out, taller than any Jasper had seen. Its eyes glowed pale blue, like ice held to a lamp. Frost spread across the boards beneath its paws. It did not growl. It simply stood between them and the door and watched. Nora went still. "That," she whispered, "is not on my map." The wolf's gaze locked on Jasper. He raised both hands slow and open. "Easy. We mean no harm." The wolf did not move, but the frost crept closer, reaching for his boots. This creature guarded the inn. Neither court had claimed the place because something older already did. Jasper lowered his hands. The ground was free. The building was not. He had found his haven and found its keeper in the same breath. To build here, he would have to win over the wolf first, or drive it out. He looked at those calm blue eyes and knew driving it out was not a choice he could make.